Two challengers win seats on Plainfield Village Board

Incumbent Bonuchi retains seat, Peck loses

Newcomers Cally Larson and Larry Newton won two of three seats in the April 4 election. Incumbent Trustee Margie Bonuchi held onto the other spot.

Newton, who has served since 2003 on the Plainfield Park District board, said he enjoys serving the public and felt the park district was finally in a stable position after years of instability.

So he ran for village board, and says he has no agenda.

“At this point, I just need to get the lay of the land,” Newton said. “Anybody that comes in with a strong agenda tends to be disappointed. I want to find out what’s going on and use common sense to look at issues and try to do the right thing.”

Larson said that in her time as a Realtor in the area, she’s spoken to a lot of families who are making sacrifices to keep their kids in Plainfield District 202 schools amid higher property tax bills.

Much of Plainfield is seeing a 4 percent increase in property values this year. While the village board agreed to drop 50 cents off a capital improvements charge on residents’ water bills to help reduce some costs, she was still disappointed the village didn’t lower its property tax rate.

She said a drop of $250 in property taxes in one year would help residents a lot more than a $6 drop in the water bill in one year.

She said she’s understanding of most of the board’s concerns that state funding is unpredictable, but she wants to do more to keep Plainfield residents from moving away to more affordable areas.

Newton said there’s nothing glaringly wrong with how the village is run. He commended village staff for outlining various projects in a detailed manner, specifically the village’s needed road maintenance.

But he said the capital needs to be in place as needs arise, noting many of the village’s roads were built at a similar time and now need replacing or improving.

Newton wants to improve economic development.

“We’ve got enough rooftops in Plainfield,” Newton said. “It’s time for commercial development to catch up.”

Larson said she wants to help make home ownership more realistic for millennials in Plainfield.

“They don’t need to go to Naperville, we have to figure out how to keep them here,” Larson said.

She also feels middle-aged residents have been underrepresented in village government, and she’s disappointed more people don’t show up to village meetings.

“We need to make sure we’re heard,” Larson said.

Trustee Garrett Peck also ran for re-election, but came in fourth.

Prior to last-minute mail-in votes that will be counted on Tuesday, Bonuchi led with 2,434 votes, followed by Larson’s 2,230 and Newton’s 2,166. Peck received 1,633 votes.